


In Little Ways, Everything Stays

by Oddly_terrifying_squiggle



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Bill is super rich, Bill was never a demon, Cliche, Fluff, He still has powers tho, Human Bill Cipher, I'm sorry if this is terrible, M/M, Minor Angst, Probably ooc, exes to friends to lovers, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-04-06 02:38:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19053550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oddly_terrifying_squiggle/pseuds/Oddly_terrifying_squiggle
Summary: This is a fic for the Billdip exchange event on Tumblr!For the my buddy @Trianglefuckerr and the prompt "Meeting and falling for each other again after a long time"





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I AM SORRY THIS IS LATE

Dipper brought the last of his boxes up to the attic. He was freshly out of college with a masters in science among other degrees and credits. Not that he really needed them, since the only thing he planned to do with his life was to write his own journals and work at the Mystery Shack with Mabel and Soos. Well, he guessed science would in fact help him with figuring out more about the strange creatures of Gravity Falls. He was excited to finally be able to stay in the town permanently. He always loved it here, always peaceful and fun, and  _ definitely _ exciting. There was, however, one thing he wasn’t particularly looking forward to.

Bill Cipher was his boyfriend during his high school days for four years. They met during his first summer in the town. Eventually they fell for each other and the next summer they began dating. It was really awkward in the beginning but they warmed up to each other quickly. Bill was a year older than him and had quite a unique appearance, with blond and black hair, two beautiful golden eyes, and a rather regal style in fashion. Every summer that he returned to Gravity Falls they would spend almost every minute of every day together. He had gone on adventures with Mabel and him, he was even good friends with her. And every day he wasn’t in Gravity Falls they would call for hours and text endlessly. They had fallen for each other real quick.

But nothing is perfect. The long distance got too overwhelming once both had gone into college. There was too much to do, they both became distant, Bill had been going through some rough times at home and since Dipper was too busy to help, things got tense. Bill was at an all time low, and he ended up taking it out on Dipper, even if he didn’t mean it. Looking back, Dipper probably could have handled the situation better, but what was done was done. They had a huge fight. They screamed and cursed and insulted each other. It didn’t end well. And they both cried for weeks, but neither was aware that the other was so depressed.

They had both gotten over it by now. It has been years since they’ve seen each other since they tend to avoid bumping into the other during the summer. Mabel had developed a disliking to Bill too, so she didn’t talk to him. But now that the twins were moving into the shack while their grunkles were overseas, there was no denying that they would eventually see Bill. 

Dipper decided not to think about it right now and just unpack the essentials. Well the bare essentials. Knowing Dipper, he was probably just going to procrastinate until he absolutely needed to get it done.

The Pines boy looked over his shoulder to Mabel’s side of the room, it was completely unpacked. It’s not that Mabel was any more together than him, it’s just that she likes her stuff and wanted it right there. Dipper would get to it eventually. Right now though, he should get some food and groceries. He wasn’t about to eat the disgusting food in the fridge. 

He told Mabel, who was in the gift shop at the time, got his keys, his hat, made sure he had his phone, and went on his merry way. 

Dipper trudged along the sidewalk, his earbuds in so he could listen to his favourite toons, paying no mind to anyone who passed him. The wind blowing, ruffling his hair a little, filling his nose with fresh air. The bright afternoon sun shining down and enveloping him in the comforting summer warmth. The familiar town surrounding him. It felt like home. It always had. And now it was. Dipper couldn’t keep himself from smiling. Living here is what he had wanted since he was twelve, and now it was happening. No matter what casualties might come with that.   
  


Bill wasn’t living under a rock. He had heard all the fuss -about the beloved Pine twins moving into Gravity Falls- from the townspeople. He always thought everyone here was oh so overly friendly. But hey, what are you gonna do? Plus, in his current profession it was kind of a given that he would get all of the ‘hot goss’, as it were, around town. 

He was in the entertainment industry, he had been for about two years now. It started with a bang, and everything was going pretty great. He became quite famous in the town, he guessed he wasn’t unlike Gideon, though he hated to be compared to him. Their jobs were actually almost the same, entertaining with magic and fun performances, although Bill wasn’t a  _ complete _ scam. Maybe just a little, but not as much as Gideon. At least  _ he _ used actual magic. 

It didn’t matter how. 

He loved being a performer for the town, and he planned on staying right where he was. The love he got from the people, creating the weird shows, showing off, cheating people, wearing the weird and fancy clothes, he loved all of it. Bill was known especially for strange and ‘abstract’ kind of shows, as some people called it. They were mind boggling and mesmerizing, if he did say so himself. Sometimes people would try to deboggle them to fit their limited understanding and logic, but to no avail. Bill had seen quite a few conspiracies about him. No one could find out how he actually did it, mostly because they didn’t know he used actual magic.

He’d even started off working with Gideon, and it was great. Until it wasn’t. Their styles were too different, they fought every two seconds, and god knows Bill hated even the thought of not being in charge. So ever since Bill went solo, there was a big competition on who was better. They would see who had more people show up. Even the town news was in on it. 

Anyway, enough about his great success and fame. Dipper was in town right now, if he wasn’t wrong. Bill was looking to bump into him. He’d been thinking a lot about him recently, more specifically about how they had ended it. It wasn’t exactly a friendly ending. Bill had avoided Dipper during summers, mostly because he didn’t want to be a nuisance for once, which was kind of out of character for him. He just guessed he felt awful about it. His relationship with Dipper was really meaningful to him, and, even though he was completely over it by now, he really wanted to apologize for being such a jerk to him. Dipper was busy with loads of work, and Bill wasn’t entitled to take his unresolved issues out on him just because Dipper was distant. He wanted to make things right today, and maybe even befriend them both again if he could. 

Bill slowly strode along the sidewalk, listening to the quiet of the town and the bids chirping. He enjoyed just walking around without a purpose. It was calming. Especially in the forest, but everyone knew they shouldn’t go in there alone. Bill had been going in the forest a lot less lately, huh? He guessed he just didn’t have anyone to go with anymore.

He smiled fondly at the memory of his young self fooling around in the forest with his two friends. Neither Bill nor Dipper ever really cared before, about going into the woods alone that is, but Bill grew out of it. Although he doubted Dipper ever would. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t miss the carelessness of his childhood. Climbing on trees, swimming in  rivers, getting almost killed by gnomes or some other ungodly creature, spending all day just having adventures. He missed it all. 

Maybe he should go grab a bite to eat or something.  
  


Dipper had gotten two bags of groceries and was now headed to Greasy’s diner in order to finally eat something. What he didn’t know was that a certain someone was heading to the exact same place and they were both about to turn the same corner. They bumped into each other as they turned on the same corner, hitting their heads against each other’s and falling to the ground on their behinds. Dipper had dropped his groceries and his notebook, Bill dropped his phone. Neither of them saw it coming, both distracted, and weren’t fast enough to stop.

Bill was a little dizzy from the hit and the fall. He grabbed his head and rubbed the sore spot, opening his eye to look at the man who made him ruin his clothing on the dirty ground. He was met with familiar, sweet mocha brown eyes, framed by neat brown hair which probably wouldn’t stay that way, and that dumb pine tree hat. He looked the other up and down, Dipper had really grown up since the last time he saw him. Instead of his usual stick like self, he had gotten a little more fit and lean, slthough he was still pasty white. He had a tattoo of some weird markings he probably found in that journal he was obsessed with, although they weren’t unfamiliar to Bill. His style didn’t change much, he wore a red flannel, light jeans, and combat boots. He even had ear piercings and a little stubble. It was...a good look on him. Wait, that was  _ Dipper _ !

Dipper looked up, dazed, and held his forehead. He was met with a dashing yet vaguely familiar man sitting in about the same position, eyeing him. The man had one gorgeous golden eye and and long blonde hair covering the other one. His hair was that odd mix of blond at the top and black at the back of his head. He had fair tan skin, big triangular earrings, and was dressed in a rather dashing manner. He had on a yellow silk blouse that looked to be expensive, black dress pants, black dress shoes, and a long black dress jacket. There was something so oddly familiar about him, but Dipper’s throbbing head made it hard to pinpoint who exactly that handsome man was.

After a few seconds of staring, Bill was able to utter something out, “D-Dipper?!” 

The aforementioned squinted at the man, taking a second to realize who he was looking at. His eyes shot wide open, “Bill!?” Dipper all but yelled when he finally got it. He suddenly felt very nervous.

There was an awkward silence. “Wow… you’ve, you… sure look older.” Bill tried to sound casual, but seemed to fail miserably.

Dipper grimaced, “Gee, thanks…” he snarked back.

Bill looked away, “No! I mean, I, you, um… I, didn’t mean, I mean… you look… really different. From the last time we saw each other.” He managed to stutter out, his shirt collar felt oddly tight. This was weird, Bill was usually a confident and shameless powerhouse. 

“Yeah, well…” Dipper looked the other up and down again, “you’re one to talk.” 

“I guess a lot has happened to both of us, huh?” Bill let out a breathy laugh to try to ease the tension, but to no avail. 

Dipper just nodded with a tight lipped smile. He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand.

They both just looked at each other for some really awkward seconds that felt like hours. This was all really weird. Dipper suddenly realized that he had dropped his bags and his beloved notebook. He pointed at Bill’s phone so he would know to pick it up, then scrambled to get his own belongings. 

“Well, I should, uh, I should go now…” Dipper said as he started to stand back up. 

Dipper began to continue to walk where he was headed, but only two steps in Bill softly placed his hand on his shoulder in order to stop him. “Wait… where do you have to be?” Bill asked, trying to not sound too stalker-y. 

When he looked over his shoulder, he almost fell down again. Bill seemed to have gotten tall as shit. Dipper wasn’t short, he was five-foot-six,but his head only went up to the other’s shoulder. Dipper was hesitant, to say the least, but he knew Bill wouldn’t do anything  _ too _ crazy. So he answered, “...Greasy’s diner. I’m hungry.” He quietly stated.

Bill almost crumbled under the other’s hard gaze, but of course he didn’t show it, he had unmatched amounts of pride anyway. Dipper seemed to have so much resentment towards him. It was kind of painful. 

“I, I really need to talk to you about something… a-about, about how we ended it.” Bill’s tone was soft, genuine. Dipper raised an eyebrow and fully turned to him. “Can I… I mean, I was just about to get a bite to eat too. Mind if I joined you?” Bill asked, managing a tiny nervous smile. 

Dipper was still skeptical. He really despised awkward situations such as this one and he just kind of wanted to go home and suffer through the rotten food in the fridge. But, something made him want to trust the other again. Bill was, probably still is, and will probably always be, an asshole, but everyone deserved a second chance. Right? There was something that seemed so genuine in him. Dipper found he couldn’t say no.

“...Alright, fine.” Dipper forced it out, “But the moment you try to pull any shit on me--” He began, his tone firm and a little harsh in order to give Bill a warning.

Bill resisted the urge to light up like a light bulb, “Yes, yes, I know!” He all but squealed. He took a mere second to calm back down, “Thank you…” His tone became a lot softer and sincere. 

Dipper couldn’t help but relax a little.  
  


The two had made it to the diner, sat at a booth, and ordered their food. At first it was only the awkward silence and the thick tension in the air. Bill shifted in his seat, uncomfortable, across from the other. 

Truthfully, Dipper was putting up the who tough-guy gambit in order to feel intimidating. He was being standoffish on purpose, he had gotten good at it over the years. He just didn’t want Bill to see him vulnerable again. It wasn’t exactly easy to gain Dipper’s trust. And he knew Bill knew that.

“So, what was it you wanted to say?” Dipper finally asked when they got their food. They had ordered pretty much the same thing. They both got burgers, Bill just had basically every topping possible while Dipper had minimal choices.

Bill swallowed a bite of his food, “I wanted to talk about how you’re a grown ass adult and you  _ still _ hate anything on your burgers.” Bill teased, blunt as always.

Dipper tried to hold back a smile, “Oh, shut up.” He shot back, a little jokingly at that. 

Bill chuckled a little. Then his expression became a lot more serious than before, “Actually I… I wanted to apologize… for  _ everything _ …” He started.

Dipper looked at him for a few seconds, then nodded as if to tell him to continue. 

Bill rubbed the back of his neck, “Before we… ended it, you know that I was going through a rough patch. It was,” Bill took in a sharp breath, “Bad. To say the least. And because of all your college work you got… distant, even though it wasn’t your fault at all. Really, looking back, I should have been more supportive of you. College is hard and expensive and you got so many classes. I should have been proud of how smart you are.” He explained, looking at Dipper’s face and seeing it soften a slight bit. 

Bill took a deep breath, “Even though I was having a hard time, it didn’t justify me taking it out on you. You didn’t deserve that, you were just trying to get through school. And I was a dick. I really am sincerely sorry.” He struggled to get the words out, making amends wasn’t exactly his strong suit. When Dipper hesitated he spoke up again, “You don’t have to accept it, but you deserve an apology.”

Dipper bit his lip, his tough act gone completely out the window for a moment. He looked away as he thought about what he had just heard. Dipper was always weary, but he sounded so sincere. But Bill was still somewhat of a scam artist. A con man, a pathological liar who could get anything out of anyone. Although it’s not like he was some kind of monster. He was only human, just like Dipper, after all. He was by no means perfect, no matter what he said. But that didn’t stop the doubts from flooding into his mind. 

And then something in him he didn’t quite understand seemed to click. “I accept your apology, Bill...Thank you.” Dipper said.

This time, Bill did light up. He smiled wide, “Really?” He asked.

Dipper only nodded, the corners of his lips quirking up into a small smile.  
  


As time went by, they decided to stay and attempt to have a not uncomfortable friendly chat. They talked about all the things that had happened in the past few years. Bill seemed amazed and slightly concerned about all the work Dipper had done in college and all he was able to graduate with. And, of course, Dipper was a little overwhelmed, but not at all surprised, when he found out he was eating lunch with one of Gravity Falls’ most beloved stars. When Bill had asked about his new journal, Dipper had explained his plan and showed him what he had already. Bill seemed really interested in it, even giving some tips and first hand information on some creatures. 

They ended up having a pretty great time. They discussed a lot of mystery topics and theories. But Bill may have forgotten to mention how exactly he made his performances possible. Dipper didn’t need to know right now. They exchanged opinions, some jokes here and there along with snarky and witty comebacks, the Pines managed to scribble down some quick ideas. 

When they had finished eating their food, Dipper left some money on the table to pay for himself. He gathered his things before getting up. He said bye to Bill, a smile finally on his face, and walked out in a much better mood than this morning for some reason. 

Bill was left sitting there by himself, thinking over everything that happened. On the one hand, he was really happy that he had a chance to befriend the twins again. On the other hand, he knew that neither of them would ever trust him the same way again. Especially Dipper. He should be satisfied with this today. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t enough. Selfish, he knew, but he wasn’t above it. 


	2. Chapter 2

Dipper rearranged some if the knick knacks at the cash to help make room for his own clutter. Today wasn’t a particularly busy day and he was stuck working the cash because everybody else was busy. Mabel was out with her friends, catching up, while Soos was tending to a ‘fish and peanut’ emergency at home, as he put it. So Dipper was manning the little shop by himself. He didn’t really mind since it was mostly empty all day, except for the fact that he would rather be doing anything more productive with his time. Like work on his journal. Or go take a walk in the woods. So he thought he might as well take his journal along with some loose notes he made to the counter and do some research to see if he could add anything.

 

Meanwhile, Bill trudged along a familiar dirt road he hadn’t set foot on for what seemed to be an eternity. He liked the nostalgia. He remembered those early summer mornings he would run over to meet the twins. He remembered running into those woods without a care in the world.

He remembered the nights he would sneak out with Dipper and race to their special spot in the forest to watch the stars. 

He should move on from recalling memories.

Bill really liked where the shack was, completely surrounded by trees, a little isolated from the town. It was cozy. Don’t get him wrong, he _ loved _ the spotlight, but he also loved the chaotic peace of mind and childlike wonder the shack brought him.

Honestly, he wasn’t quite sure why exactly he was making his way there. It’s not like he thought he’d be welcomed with open arms. In fact, he knew he probably wouldn’t be wanted there. At all. But he just couldn’t stop thinking about when he bumped into Dipper those other days. 

It had been two weeks, and they had managed to occasionally bump into each other and have little hangouts afterwards. They were both beginning to warm up to each other again, even if it terrified Dipper in some cases. It just got Bill more and more comfortable around him. 

Dipper would probably think Bill was being a creep, but he was still finding himself smiling when he thought about their conversations. He just  _ needed _ to see him again. Even for just ten minutes.    
  


Dipper quickly looked up from his notes as soon as he heard the bell on the door jingle. His eyes widened for a second when he saw Bill, this time in a yellow sweater with a closed eye on his chest, black leggings, and big triangular earrings. He definitely looked a lot more casual than most times. Dipper looked down at himself. He had not changed his clothes in two weeks, probably looked like death, and probably smelled worse. His confidence staggered, it didn’t feel great to be standing in front of someone looking so stunning while he, himself, looked like absolute ass. 

The awkward tension that would always come with the first seconds was there again, albeit for only a few moments. Bill began to walk over to the counter, feeling a knot in his stomach tighten. He blamed it on the nerves. The uncomfortable silence only stretched out as he took what felt like millions of steps, even though it was only three or four. Dipper was visibly anxious, so Bill was going to try to be as friendly as possible. 

Bill gave him a small smile, “Hey, Pi- Dipper. How have you been?” Well, he was already almost way too friendly. Bill couldn’t understand why he cared so much. Anyone who has ever spent even five seconds with him would know he knew nothing about boundaries. 

Dipper squinted at him, “You were about to call me that, weren’t you?” He interrogated him, almost playful.

“Pfft! No..” Bill lied terribly on purpose. 

They both shared a light hearted laugh. “You know I hate when you call me that.” Dipper said.

“Oh, please, I know you love it.” Bill retorted, grinning wide as he placed his hands on the cash to support himself on it as he leaned closer. The tension from before seemed to be completely forgotten about now.

“I hate it almost as much as I hate that stupid smirk.” Dipper deadpanned.

Bill scoffed, feigning offense, “That hurts!” 

Dipper laughed, “It’s good to see that you’re the same drama queen you’ve always been.”

Bill smiled wider, “Some things never change, Pinetree.”

“Dipper.” He corrected. Although he knew Bill well enough that he knew he wouldn’t listen. It didn’t hurt to try.

Bill shifted onto his elbows, holding his face in his hands. “How’s your journal going?” He asked.

Dipper lit up a bit. He was always excited to share his knowledge and progress with others. “Pretty great actually. I’ve been doing a lot of research and I think I’ve found some mistakes in Ford’s journals. If I can discover something on my own it’d be so amazing. Plus, I think I saw a new creature, I’m going to go look for it once I have the time.” He rambled, shoving some notes towards Bill, who read them as he listened.

“Don’t you know you shouldn’t go into the forest alone?” Bill asked, not completely serious.

“Don’t  _ you _ know that I don’t care and I can handle myself?” Dipper shot back.

“I figured you’d say that.” Bill shrugged. He then grinned wide again, “Although, I do suggest you set aside even just five minutes to take a shower. You’ll be grateful to yourself.” Bill teased, blunt as ever.

Dipper felt his face grow hot. He was never good with embarrassment, in fact he hated it. And Bill knew that. He was being an asshole on purpose. Well, two can play at that game. “And maybe you should try to take some time to pull your head from up your ass but you clearly seem to be so busy.” Dipper snarked, his eyes narrow but a smile very apparent on his face. 

Bill full on cackled, “Wow, look at the balls on you! I don’t remember you having such a bite!” He playfully elbowed him.

“Yeah, well, some things  _ do _ change.” 

“Clearly for the better.” Bill simply stated.

Dipper rolled his eyes, “Are you going to buy something or did you just come here to bother me?” Dipper asked.

Bill hummed, as if in thought, “Just to bother you.”

Dipper put on his most tired teenage cashier voice, “We have a strict ‘no loitering’ policy sir, you need to buy something or get the hell out.” He said, very matter-of-factly. 

Bill decided to play along, he put on his most entitled voice possible “Don’t you know who I am?! Can’t you give me some kind of celebrity discount?!” He all but screeched.

“No.”

Bill crossed his arms, pouting. He looked around, then his eyes fixated on Dipper. “Fine then, I think I’ll take  _ this _ .” Bill grinned. He snatched Dipper’s favorite hat right off his head and plopped it on his own. 

Dipper reached for his hat back, but to no avail as Bill backed up. “Not for sale!” He firmly stated as he leapt up to grab it back. Dipper loved that hat and he knew that Bill would take it if he let him. 

Bill stuck his tongue out at the other. After both of them had another quick laugh, Bill’s eyes roved over Dipper again. He then spotted a particular something around his neck. He must have had it tucked inside his shirt before. Bill let out a gasp and grabbed the long chain, quick enough to catch him off guard but not hard enough to hurt. However, it did pull him over the counter a bit. “You kept this?” Bill breathed out, touched at the thought that the gift still meant something to the other. He knew his face was probably lit up like a light bulb.

Bill had given him that necklace all those years ago. It was on their big one-year-anniversary, he remembered being so nervous about how he couldn’t find anything good, until he spotted it. It was a long golden chain with, at the time, only a golden triangle with a diamond in the middle as a pendant. Bill had found another pendant that looked exactly like the pine tree on Dipper’s hat and added it to the chain, along with a little red heart pendant between the two. He remembered that Dipper would always refuse to take it off. He remembered their late night calls where Dipper would tell him he kicked a dude in the balls because he tried to take the chain off of him. Bill managed an even wider, fond grin. He began to wonder if it had always been this warm in here.

Dipper knew his face was probably glowing red. His throat closed up from the embarrassment, seeming to lose the ability to talk. Dipper knew what keeping the necklace could look like, and it’s not that it still meant that much to him it’s just that he had always liked the way it looked on him. He swore it was nothing more. No matter if he felt his heart pick up it’s pace. It was from embarrassment. Still, he struggled to find the words to say, “I- Well, I, I mean, you, I uh,” He tried, looking anywhere he could except for Bill, who fiddled with the little worn down figures on the chain. Dipper swallowed, “It’s not… what you think!” 

He couldn’t quite understand why he hadn’t pulled away, either. Why he hadn’t snatched the necklace back and tucked it back into his collar. Why he decided to stay this close to the other. He guessed he  _ was _ warming up to Bill again. Even if he hated to admit it. He hated to admit he was getting vulnerable with such ease, especially with someone who had hurt him that much. It gave him a weird uneasy feeling in his gut.

Thankfully, before he could explain further, they were interrupted by the jingle of the bell. They both turned, seeing what looked to be a very apprehensive Mabel. She busted into the gift shop, a hard look fixated on Bill. She must have recognized him. Now, Mabel had learned to be very intimidating when she wanted to, so Bill pulled away from Dipper and stood up straight, defensive. 

The huge tension was in the air again. Nobody moved or even dared breathe too hard. You could almost hear the gentle breeze outside. Mabel took a few steps forward, clearly ready to defend her twin in whatever way she needed to. Bill wasn’t in the mood for any trouble. Not yet, at least. He was still trying to prove that he was a better person now. Plus, Mabel was his old friend, he still had a small soft spot for her, even if she resented him now. 

Mabel looked to Dipper once she was in front of the cash. She gave him a concerned look, as if to ask if everything was okay. Dipper responded with a look of his own, telling her that it was fine. 

Bill watched them as they telepathically communicated, silent and off to the side. He reached into his pocket for one of the little business cards he never used along with a pencil. He scribbled something down on it, walking towards them when he was done. They didn’t notice him, too wrapped up in their miming argument. Bill cleared his throat, almost wincing when Mabel’s hard gaze immediately landed on him. He only stopped himself from doing so when he looked to Dipper’s embarrassed face, he found it amusing, as always. 

Bill cleared his throat, “I, uh, I should get going,” he began, one hand rubbing the back of his neck and the other trying to discreetly slide the paper to Dipper. Dipper took it, and Mabel seemed to be too focused on Bill’s face to notice. 

Dipper only nodded in response, while his twin’s gaze was unwavering.

Bill walked to the door, opening it but stopping before stepping out. He turned on his heel, smiled at Dipper, “It was nice talking to you again.” He said.

Dipper gave him a warm smile. It was definitely more than enough for Bill. He waved and walked out the door, trudging along the dirt path once again. 

Once they were sure Bill had left and was out of earshot, Mabel went over to the other side of the cash. She checked over Dipper, “Are you okay? Did he hurt you? What happened? Why was he here? What—” She asked, the words flooding out of her mouth in a hurried, confusing, worried flurry.

Dipper interrupted her by gently grabbing her forearms to stop her from checking for cuts and/or bruises. Anyone else would have asked her to repeat, but he had gotten used to her rambling. He smiled, “I’m fine, Mabel. He didn’t hurt me, I really doubt he would. We just talked. I don’t know what he wanted, or why he was here.” He answered, completely calm. “I’m okay,” he reassured once again.

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Mabel lingered, but went into the shack anyway. She was probably a lot more busy than him, she did work in the shack a lot more than Soos. And she had to take care of ‘Old Man Waddles’. That was currently his nickname. 

Once he was sure she was gone, Dipper looked at the little slip of paper Bill handed him. It appeared to be a black business card, gold lines at the top and bottom, a triangle outlined in bright blue with a single eye in the middle right in the center of the card. On the back; plain white, there was a bolded and italicized phone number and letters. ‘ _ Bill Cipher. The master of illusion. Call to make business. _ ’ it read. Then, below that, there were more letters, but this time in Bill’s neat cursive writing. ‘ _ Call if you’d like. Tell her your name is Dipper Pines. _ ’ 

Dipper didn’t notice the little smile that tugged at his lips.

Bill went back to his office in his theatre, The Fearamid. Yes, he knew, a theatre. He loved the place. As soon as he got enough money from his days of partnership with Gleeful, he was able to invest in making his own theatre and kick start his solo gig. It was going great. The Fearamid was even better than he could imagine, he  _ still _ couldn’t get over it. At the first two top floors was his general home and living area; an area only he and his basically-older-sister Pyronica (she was his manager/secretary/lawyer; his right hand woman) were allowed in, The next floor down had his and Pyronica’s offices, the next floor was for meetings and business, the next was the giant stage and the seating, and the basement was for below stage, props, and storage.

Once off of the elevator, he walked through Pyronica’s office, since you’d have to walk through her’s in order to get to his, and knocked on the table in order to get her attention from the piles of spreadsheets, notes for the show, bills, and job resumes for her new assistant. She obviously had a lot on her plate, but Bill, being the stubborn annoying ass that he was, didn’t really care. She’s proved time and time again that she could handle it. Plus, it’s not like she did all the work, Bill pretty much single handedly planned the entire show; the lights, the effects, the script, the acts, all of it. She handled the economics, the money, and, of course, the occasional lawsuit. And she reviewed his final notes for the show, made necessary changes. She was possibly the smartest person he knew. Well, one of them. But she needed a new assistant, since the last one ended up… asking  _ too many _ questions. 

She ignored Bill, as usual when she knew it probably wasn’t urgent. She knew him too well, as his very best friend. So he continued to pound on her desk until she finally looked up at him, clearly annoyed.

Bill gave her a bright grin in return, “Hey, Py!” He greeted, cheerful as always, “ _ So _ , I just needed to let you know that if a ‘Dipper Pines’ calls, don’t turn him away like with anyone else, transfer him to me right away. Add him to that little ‘important call person’ list you have. If anyone else important calls just tell them to call back.” He said, trailing his index finger on the wooden top. 

Whenever Bill had to give his business card to some fancy rich capitalist guy who wanted to buy him and his shows, he told her to tell them that ‘Mr.Cipher is very busy right now, but please check next week.’ in order to avoid the  _ very _ unwanted conversations. There were very few people on that special list. They were supposed to be the most respected and luxurious on Bill’s own internal list.

Pyronica seemed to perk up with interest, she raised an eyebrow at him as she sat up straight and began to type on her computer, “Oh. Sure.” She began, “What’s up with these two ‘Pines twins’ anyway? I’ve heard all about them moving in from the people around town,” Pyronica had to keep up with all the popular trends and such, “Do they run some super rich and important company or something? Wait no, you usually hate that. Why is he so high up on your list?” She interrogated.

Bill began to walk away, “Do you really want to waste half an hour of your time while I explain my system and his personal connection to me?” He asked, sarcastic as he held onto the doorknob. 

“Hell no.”

“Exactly.” Bill said simply, making a gesture to say that he was leaving, “I have a lot of work to do for the show for next month. I need to get to it. I’ll have the manuscript to you by the end of the week.” He explained as he shut the door behind him.    
  


That night, Dipper sat at his desk as he continued to do his research, modifying things from Ford’s journals. He had a lot of books to read, which, surprise surprise, he found in Ford’s room, on science, astrology, psychology, and more. He was currently trying to find the science, the logistics, of the whole weird magic and paranormals in the forest. 

But he had hit a slump.

He kept bumping up against the same wall, he couldn’t connect the magic  to  _ anything _ he already knew about science. And he knew a lot. He knew that he might have to end up making an entire new form of science and studies, but there  _ had _ to be a connection. Even if it just came down to atoms. But right now he didn’t have the equipment or resources. And God knows he wasn’t doing this for the money. Hell, if any rational person saw this, they would think he had absolutely gone mad.

Dipper rubbed at his eyes and looked at the clock over on his nightstand. It was only eight o’clock. Wow, it was a lot earlier than he thought it would be. Next to said clock, he spotted the little piece of paper Bill had given him. 

Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea if he called. To get a, you know, second perspective.

He picked up his phone and dialed the number. It rang once, twice.

“Good afternoon, this is Mr.Cipher’s office, may I please have your full name.” He heard a female voice say from the phone. It was clearly more of a statement than a question.

“Uhm, Dipper Pines...Bill told me to call.” He responded awkwardly.

“Oh. Yes, I’ll transfer you right away, sir. He told me you’d be calling.” She said, leaving Dipper a bit dumbfounded by the sudden respect.

“Okay, thank you…”

“No problem, sir.” She sounded the slightest bit taken aback by the niceties. Dipper was transferred immediately.

Bill had his head buried in his scattered papers all over the desk, floor, and walls. He was best with visual examples, so he always made a big plan and put up examples and notes everywhere. It wasn’t a comfortable place for anyone else. He looked up, startled, when the phone rang. It was unusual since he blacklisted most people, and the ones he didn’t don’t call often.

“Bill Cipher.” He automatically greeted once he picked it up.

Dipper suddenly began to feel a little nervous, but he couldn’t explain why, “Hi Bill, it’s, it’s Dipper.” He said, slightly uncomfortable.

Bill perked up completely, “Dipper! You called!”

Dipper chuckled, “Yeah, I guess I did, didn’t I?”

“Did you miss me, Pinetree?” Bill asked playfully, “Admit it, you missed me!”

Dipper rolled his eyes at Bill as he subconsciously bit his bottom lip, “I have no idea what you mean. And my name’s Dipper."

“Oh, what other possible reason could you have to call me?” He asked, ignoring the correction and rolling onto his back on the floor of his office. 

“I just wanted to hear your annoying voice at eight p.m.”

“Annoying?!” Bill feigned offence.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot you preferred ‘ _ exotic _ ’.” Dipper laughed.

“You’re damn right I do.”

They both shared a genuine laugh. Dipper put his feet up on his desk, “ _ So _ ... what do you know about pyrokinesis?” He asked out of nowhere.

Bill was completely taken by surprise, Dipper absolutely couldn’t suspect him of anything though, so he was fine. Right? “Why the sudden question?” He rubbed at the back of his neck.

“I always ask questions, I have trust issues.” Dipper joked.

“Oh, right!” Bill laughed nervously, then regained his smugness, “I almost forgot about that time you—”

“Okay, yes, we all remember that incident, thank you!” Dipper quickly interrupted him, embarrassment very apparent in his voice. “Answer the damn question, will you?”

“Alright, alright…” Bill decided it wouldn’t be too bad if he gave him just  _ a little _ information. He knew it was fun to watch Dipper get all excited about stuff, so if he gave him a few things to work with he would ramble Bill’s ear off. Dipper was probably only calling him because he hit a wall or something. If he said something tiny, he knew the other would work the rest out himself. “I think… I may know a  _ few _ useful things…”    
  


They spent the next two hours talking each other’s ears off. Dipper wrote down so many things that he’d probably be spending the next two nights reviewing them and having even more epiphanies. Bill had gotten a lot of ideas, thanks to Dipper, even though the latter had no clue about it. They’d both been very productive while chatting. And yet they weren’t at all. They spent so much time talking about anything they could think of. It was some of the most refreshing time either of them had had in weeks.

It was almost like…

Almost like when they were together.

But now they were only becoming friends again. It was extremely unlikely that they would end up together again. Bill thought Dipper had lost all trust in him, while Dipper thought Bill was way out of his league by now. Or, he  _ would _ think that if he hoped this would end up as more than a friendship. Even with Bill’s dashing good looks, his irritating smug personality, and his smartass self, Dipper was not interest in the slightest anymore. And even though Bill thought the other was adorable in a platonic way, brilliant, and capable of having the entire world in his hands, he didn’t think he had any chance at all anymore.

Bill mustered up the courage to ask what had been nipping at him, “So, I’ve told you about my  _ amazing _ shows before, correct?” He grinned.

Dipper hummed a yes in response.

The blond bit his lip, “If you wanted to… I’m able to pull some strings and get tickets for you and your sister…” his tone was uncertain, but he couldn’t quite understand why. “Would you.. want to come watch it?” He asked softly.

Dipper took a moment to respond. He wasn’t sure. He had heard the rumors about the show. About how it was possibly one of the most amazing things one could ever witness with their own eyes. Dipper would personally love to go, it would be nice to take a break and go entertain himself in a different way. But he didn’t think Mabel would want to see it. She had a rather big issue with Bill. 

He’s sure he can manage.

“That would be great… thanks Bill.” His voice was sincere, grateful.

They were both so excited for the show already.


	3. Chapter 3

“Oh, come on, Mabel, they’re just tickets! To a show! And they’re free! It doesn’t mean anything! It’s just a fun night watching what I keep hearing is a ‘truly mesmerizing experience’!” Dipper argued. Mabel was completely overreacting. It was no big deal, it was just a show. Sure, it was performed by someone she personally hates, but it’s not like she had to  _ talk _ to him. Well, unless Dipper did. Which, he probably will. But she didn’t need to know that.

The tickets had arrived in the mail last night. They were some really fancy tickets. Dipper almost fell out of his chair once he read the perks they came with, Bill had taken the courtesy of writing them down on a piece of paper, with his neat cursive printing. Not only the best seats in the house, but V.I.P privileges, complimentary snacks at the door, and backstage passes before the show. These  _ had _ to be so expensive! 

But Mabel wasn’t having it. She kept telling him about how they shouldn’t go because God knows what Bill was actually after.  _ She _ was supposed to be the trusting one of both of them, not Dipper. That goes to show just how much she hated him now. But really, she just didn’t want to see Dipper so hurt again. He was a complete wreck after the incident with Bill happened. He cried for weeks, totally inconsolable, even  _ Mabel _ could only barely help. He loved Bill. Loved. It was in the past, they both knew that. But Mabel was smart when it came to this sort of thing. She could tell that her twin never really did let go, why else would he be hanging on to that dumb necklace? He was vulnerable to Bill, and it would get worse if the little blond bastard kept making moves on him. Mabel just needed to protect her brother.

But Dipper just kept  _ pushing _ .

“ _ Please _ ? I’ll buy you fro-yo after! With as many topics as you want!” He offered. If she really did take him up on that his wallet was going to cry. “I don’t want these tickets to go to waste, they’re so good and he must have gone through a lot of trouble to get them.”

Mabel stayed silent, twisting a lock of her hair with her forefinger. “You don’t even  _ like _ this stuff, Dip-Dop! You just spend the entire time analyzing every little bit and telling me why it isn’t real and why you’re so unimpressed.”

The Pines boy decided it was time to pull out the big guns, “If you’re not coming with me, then I’m going alone.” He stated.

Mabel look up quickly and bit her lower lip. “Alright, fine, I’ll go!” She finally agreed, “But you  _ are _ getting me fro-yo after!”

“Deal.” He said, “I’m sure we’ll have a great time tomorrow, okay? I hear it’s one of the town’s proudest attractions.” Dipper placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a smile. 

Mabel smiled back tightly, she nodded, trying to convince herself.    
  


The next day, Bill was prepping for the show, putting on his elaborate costumes in his dressing room behind the divider while Pyronica discussed some important stuff with him. He had to say costumes because he was going to change three times on stage, so he had to essentially put on three layers that he was going to tear off. But he was used to it by now. He was just overly excited since the twins were watching tonight. He had to make no mistakes, not that he ever did. He didn’t get his perfect reputation by making mistakes, after all. 

“Bill, you gave some of our most expensive tickets away  _ for free _ !” Pyronica exclaimed. She was extremely annoyed with this, they couldn’t just waste this much money! “Now I  _ gotta _ know why the hell these two are  _ so _ important!” 

Bill evaded the last statement, fiddling with his last zipper, “Oh, you make such a big deal of it!  _ I’m _ supposed to be the drama queen here, and you know that.” He was mostly serious. He walked out from behind the divider and went to the mirror for hair and makeup, “I paid for it with my own personal money.” 

Pyronica rubbed at her eyes and furrowed her brows, “Which goes right back to you because you get most of the profit! In reality, you gave them away for free!” 

“Just take it out of my paycheck then!” Bill shot back. He stopped himself from whipping around in order for the hair lady not to pull his hair and the makeup guy not to smudge anything, so he just sat there and pouted.

Pyronica sighed, “That’s not how it works.”

“Well it is now, I’m the boss and I said so.”

“Bill—” Pyronica was getting exasperated, “You know what, fine. Just, be ready, ok? The people with backstage access will be here in fifteen to get autographs and look at you, or whatever.” She looked at the stylists with a stern expression. 

“We’ll have him ready on time, Py.” The hair lady confirmed.

“Good. I need to go do final tests, no fooling around while I’m gone. I’m talking to you, Bill.” And with that, Pyronica left them there.   
  


The Pines twins walked up at The Fearamid, gawking at the black holographic glass covering the pyramid shaped structure. It was huge, beautiful, and completely breathtaking. It definitely stood out from the entire rest of the dingy old town. This theatre was made to look so extravagant, that if any normal building in the town were next to it people would probably think it was a dumpster. That’s probably why it was kind of isolated. Definitely not something you see in a small town that’s in the middle of nowhere. 

It was so much more than either of them were expectating. And they were only standing in front of it on the red carpet laid out for the V.I.P.s. Neither could fathom what it could even look like inside. In Bill’s letter it had also mentioned to dress formally, but the only other people he saw in suits and dresses were the rich families skipping the line and going in the V.I.P. door. Either Bill was messing with them, or he had led everyone he knew to believe the twins were trust fund babies. 

They shared a look, shrugged, and went to skip the line. They showed their tickets to the usher, who hurriedly let them in as he saw the tickets. Okay, yeah, Bill had made them seem like they were indeed some kind of rich millennial company owners. 

As they entered the enormous theater, dark walls, red velvet and golden seats all around them, diamond chandeliers, and marble statues, Dipper couldn’t help but laugh. Where the hell were they even? Was he dreaming? He had to be dreaming! There was no way in hell that he was actually experiencing  _ this _ ! The show hadn’t even started yet and he was already stunned by the  _ building _ , of all things. He almost broke into straight up hysterics at the thought that ‘Lil Ol’ Gideon’ was competing with all  _ this _ ! He had to have come a long way, himself, if their little rivalry was this popular. The Tent of Telepathy absolutely had no chance against The Fearamid.

They shuffled to their seats, feeling uncomfortable around these old rich white men and their trophy wives. Pacifica’s parents were here. But that was no surprise. Bill had been telling Dipper about how they had been trying to buy his business for the longest time, and absolutely wouldn’t give up. 

Dipper looked down at his sister as she sat in her seat. She wore a long fitted black lace dress with no sleeves, a see through collar and a split front. He only knew this because of her in-depth description. He didn’t know that the leg gap thing was called a ‘split front’ until half an hour ago. Bill would be as disappointed as Mabel was. The dress may have looked fancy, but she bought it for twenty bucks at a thrift store. She also had black flats and a sliver kitty purse. You can’t take away Mabel’s childlike demeanour no matter how hard you may try.

Then, he looked up to the stage. It didn’t seem like much right now, just a standard stage with long red curtains. But he had higher hopes than just that for Bill. There was probably so much more behind the scenes. And he  _ could _ go inspect it.

But he couldn’t just leave Mabel here alone.

But on the other hand, he wouldn’t want the backstage passes to go to waste, now would he?

“Are you going to sit down?” She asked.

Dipper chewed on his bottom lip for a second, “Actually, I think I might put my backstage pass to use, I kinda wanna get a closer look at the stage.” He admitted.

His sister wasn’t born yesterday, she knew that he probably wanted to go talk to Bill. But she also knew that he would most likely be swamped by dozens of fans and reporters, so the two wouldn’t even make eye contact. Mabel rolled her eyes, but the corners of her mouth quirked up into a small smile. “Okay, go. Don’t take long.”

Dipper smiled at her and walked off to where others were lining up to go backstage.

Bill, as always, made a point to put on a show when he signed autographs. He loved to show off how superior he was to everyone else. How much more fashionable he was than everyone else, too. Having people line up to get his signature, photo, or even just breathe the same air as him. Being famous was intoxicating. He posed for as many pictures as wanted, signed anything wanted, and ignored as many rich capitalists as possible.

Dipper was tempted to try to walk up to Bill. But he was surrounded by fans and reporters and flashing cameras. He only knew it was Bill because he was basically a giraffe and his head peered out from the crowd. Dipper hated the spotlight, he wasn’t about to walk into a crowd and talk to the most famous person in the room. He sighed, looking around and spotting the entrance to the stage. He took a few steps closer and inspected the place. There were a lot less screens than he thought there would be. There must have been a lot of lights and such. He heard about the amount of special effects, they just  _ had _ to have more equipment. He just wondered where. 

He began to look around a little more, when someone grabbed his shoulder. Dipper flinched and whipped around, startled. There stood Bill, looking so absolutely dashing that Dipper almost gawked at him. He wore a black three piece suit with a tail on his jacket that reached his ankles, yellow lines making a brick pattern from the waist of his jacket down. He also had pointy black dress shoes, black leather gloves, a bowtie, and a very tiny hat on the top of his head. The hat was more funny and cute than anything else, though. His hair still covered his right eye, but Dipper could tell the rest of his face was sporting some makeup. Including black lipstick. For some reason, Dipper felt like his legs were suddenly about to give out.

Bill smiled down at Dipper. The latter looked a lot better than a few days ago. He wore a navy blue tux jacket and dress pants, a white dress shirt, and a red tie. His hair was still messy as ever though, and Bill doubted he would ever see it styled neatly. It was kind of cute.

Bill beamed at Dipper, loudly beginning to talk, “Pinetree,—“

“Dipper.” He corrected quickly.

Bill ignored him, “— I’m so happy you made it!” He exclaimed.

Dipper couldn’t help but smile a little. You, not ‘you two’. It was probably nothing, but he still felt something tighten in his stomach. “Yeah, well. Happy to be here. I couldn’t let those tickets go to waste.” 

“Oh, so you found out how much they cost.” Bill laughed nervously.

“It was obvious that they were expensive, you could tell by just looking at them, but I  _ did _ however search it up. And holy shit, Bill! You spent so much money on the tickets!” Dipper shouted quietly, he never thought that he would get tickets worth that many zeros ever in his life.

Bill snickered at him, “Don’t worry about it.”

The Pines boy furrowed his eyebrows at him, “I will worry! Just how rich did you make your staff believe we were?” He tried to sound serious, but the other could see the playful glint in his eyes.

“Hey,  _ I  _ didn’t say  _ anything _ , they all just assumed, which is completely on them.” 

“But you  _ did _ make me wear a suit and sit with the rich men and their trophy wives.” Dipper shot back as he took a step closer.

Bill shrugged, “It was mostly an excuse to get you to shower.” He stated. Dipper scoffed and lightly hit him on the arm. They shared a laugh.

“You clean up real nicely, though, if that’s any comfort.” Bill said with a fond tone. There was something in his eyes, something Dipper couldn’t quite place his finger on.

The Pines boy felt his face grow hot, “You don’t get to tell me that while you look like  _ that _ .” He gestures to Bill’s entire body for emphasis.

“I know, I look amazing. As always.” Bill posed in front of Dipper, a silly little act. That bastard. 

“Oh, shut up, you dignified triangle.” Dipper laughed when he saw the other’s offended face. Bill had had a weird fixation with triangles his whole life. It got to the point where seeing a triangle would remind him of the blond man. 

“You don’t get to call me that!”

“If I get a nickname, then so do you. Deal with it.” Dipper poked Bill’s chest and stuck his tongue out. He saw the taller of them roll his eyes as he struggled to keep a straight face. 

Dipper chuckled, “By the way, I know you told me you were rich, but I didn’t think you were  _ rich  _ rich. Like,  _ mansion _ rich!” He signaled at literally everything around him right then and there. 

“What can I say, the spotlight has it’s perks!” Bill shrugged once again. 

“Speaking of ‘perks’, aren’t you supposed to be coddled by your fans and news reporters right now?” The Pines boy asked after a second. 

Bill tilted his head. He leaned down, exaggerating trying to reach eye level with Dipper. He shrugged again, “I found a good reason to slip away.” He was quieter than before.

Dipper bet he looked like a deer in headlights. His knees felt weak. How was he supposed to respond to that? Something in his gut flipped. He couldn’t understand why. An awkward laugh escaped his lips.

Bill grinned as he took in every last inch of Dipper’s face at that moment. It was as deliciously adorable as he remembered. He never tired of seeing it. And he never will. Dipper going red faced because of him was one of his favourite things.

Then, out of nowhere, a voice rang out from behind them, “Bill!” It called. 

They turned around and Dipper saw what must have been the woman who answered the phone for Bill. He recognized the voice. She was tall, slim, and looked rather strong. She had long, hot pink hair that went down to her waist and covered one of her eyes. She had pale skin, a green eye, and a sense of fashion similar to Bill’s. She had a short pink dress a little lighter than her hair, a red cape, white gloves and stockings, and red heels. She was clutching a clipboard in her hands as she rushed over to them.

“Uh-oh.” Bill mumbled under his breath. Dipper snapped to him with a questioning look.

“Bill! I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” She scolded him. “8-Ball told me you told your  _ paying fans _ that something came up and they had to go!” Pyronica seemed to only get more pissed at him. She didn’t even notice that Dipper was standing right there.

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and looked to the ground. Usually, he always kept his ground. But thanks to the tall handsome man telling him nice things, he was embarrassed. 

“Calm down, they got what they wanted.” Bill stated, uncaring as ever, “The show’s starting soon anyway.” 

Pyronica made a frustrated noise, “I do not have the  _ time _ to explain this to you right now!” She seethed at him, making threatening gestures as she did. She shut her eyes tightly and took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose. Before Bill could speak up, she sighed, “You know what? Fine. Fine. Just be ready in fifteen minutes!” She was strict enough for Bill to keep his mouth shut, albeit he wasn’t happy about it.

Her gaze then moved over to Dipper, who had slowly regained his composure. But, hell, he almost crumbled under her. Her eyes turned softer and she put on the best customer service smile the Pines boy had ever seen. “Oh! You must be Mr.Pines!” She said, making Dipper feel old. And a little confused on how her tone had gone from pissed to friendliest-person-I’ve-ever-met. Pyronica stretched out her hand to him.

Dipper took it, shaking it up and down three times. He smiled awkwardly, “Yeah, uh, just ‘Dipper’ is fine, actually.”

Pyronica looked a little taken aback, “... Of course, I apologize, Dipper.”

The aforementioned felt like he had been a bit rude, so he reassured her, “Oh no, no, no! It’s okay, you didn’t know. It just makes me feel kinda old.” He was quick with his words, rubbing at the back of his neck with his hand. 

Her smile faltered, not that he did anything bad just that he had surprised her. “Alright then, thank you very much. But I’m afraid that it’s time for you to go back to your seat.” She said.

The Pines boy nodded, “No problem, sorry.” He smiled. 

Pyronica turned her head to the taller of the two in front of her and gave him a look, “Bill, a word, please?” 

Bill only nodded to her. Dipper thought he looked like a scolded puppy. He snickered and turned to leave, waving to the blond as he did. 

Pyronica made sure Dipper was out of earshot before giving Bill something close to a death glare, “He was very nice to me, there is  _ no way _ that that man is as important as you make him out to be.” She stated, “Bill Cipher, look me in the eyes and please tell me that you did not give all of this to your boy crush.” Pyronica talked slowly, but it did terrify  the other slightly.  


Bill scoffed, “We both know that I can do whatever I want.” He stubbornly claimed. Pyronica seethed, only for him to push her away by her face, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a show that starts in a few minutes.” And with that, he left.   
  


Dipper sat back down next to Mabel. She smiled at him and looked back to the stage as the lights dimmed. He had to say he was already impressed, as the lights went out around him and suspenseful music began to play. He flinched when suddenly blue fire erupted from the stage, going up for five feet. He had no doubt it was supposed to happen, but it still scared the shit out of him. From above the flames, a triangle shaped hole seemed to appear out of nowhere, small at first but quickly growing. Inside, it showed a view of the galaxy, a million stars off in the infinite distance. An eye faded into the middle of it, opening one slit eye, not unlike that of a cat’s. He heard cackling. But it was weird. It echoed from all around the room and it sounded like four different voices played on top of each other at once. The maniacal laughter filled the entire theater until the eye closed and Bill crawled out of the triangle, floating above all the fire. Two minutes in, and Dipper was already mesmerized. Well, he knew he was in for a long show already.

He watched as Bill placed his hands on his hips, looking down at all of the audience with a giant grin on his face. “Oh! Oh, Gravity Falls, it is  _ good  _ to be  _ back _ !” He exclaimed, that same weird voice filling the room and ringing in Dipper’s ears. “Name’s Bill Cipher.” He gestured to himself, bowing and floating down, gracefully stepping onto the stage as the fire dissolved.

Suddenly, all the stage lights went out, leaving the theater pitch black. Except for a single flame that erupted from Bill’s fingertips, and illuminated his face, “And I hope you know exactly what you’ve gotten yourself into.” His tone was dark, it sent chills down Dipper’s spine once he heard it. Bill blew out the flames.

The next thing he saw, markings all over Bill’s body glowed. Intricate lines and designs dancing and floating around on the stage until he couldn’t tell what drawing was where on his body. It was beautiful. He thought other people had joined him to dance, but he realized it must have been an effect when the markings merged together and spun, exploding into various colours.

Bill had to admit, he was never entirely focused while performing. Sure, he was making sure he wasn’t making mistakes and was doing everything he rehearsed, but he had done it so often that he knew a few tricks to just enjoy himself. Plus, he  _ loved _ showing off to all these people. And it wasn’t hard to just let it flow, he was the epitome of perfect, after all.

Bill walked off the stage, as scripted, letting the rest of the symbols merge and explode. Before the residu could fall, it slowed “This party never ends!” More fire came from the stage along with more colourful explosions that slowed before all of it stopped moving, “Time is dead and meaning has no meaning!”

The words took both Pines by surprise it was completely unprompted and unexpected from such beautiful little effects, but that was when Dipper remembered that this was  _ Bill _ . The show was bound to be weird, dark, dramatic, or all of the above. He gasped when a gust of wind, which he couldn’t even find the source of, blew through the crowd and blew his bangs back, exposing his birthmark. Then, on the stage, bright, glowing blue bricks joined together to form a pyramid surrounding a circle of light. A second later, said pyramid was obliterated by white light. The entire audience averted their eyes. 

Bill emerged from the light, “Existence is upside down, and I reign supreme!” Bill yelled into the crowded theater, he seemed so deliciously pleased, almost as if he was looking down on all of them. 

Dipper almost laughed, he knew Bill thought himself more superior than all else. He should really hate that, but…

But when he looked at that face he couldn’t help but feel the need to smile. 

“Welcome one and all,” Bill started, raising his arms above his head, his hands a fair distance apart. More blue fire came from his hands, but this time it was more than just that. The fire engulfed the entirety of his arms, and Dipper could have sworn he saw the man’s eye turn the same shade of blue. 

“To  _ Weirdmageddon _ !” The whole audience joined in as soon as the words began to come out of Bill’s mouth. Bill made his hands into fists as he had yelled it, he yanked his hands back to his sides. It caused a wave of even more fire to erupt from the stage, followed by explosions and flashing, colourful lights. 

The theatre erupted into loud, tormenting cheers. Both Pines twins couldn’t believe that they found themselves doing it, too. 

Throughout the various stunts and effects and fantastic music and lights, The Pines finally understood all the rep about the shows. It definitely lived up to it’s standards. It was definitely one of the most amazing, mind boggling illusion performances Dipper had ever seen.

And Bill was absolutely marvellous during the entire thing. Watching him perform with such a clear passion and talent just made Dipper feel inexplicably proud. It made something inside of him flutter. Even if he knew that Bill was a cocky, stuck up, egotistical, party addicted, annoying, power thirsty scam artist asshole. There had always been something about him that just made Dipper feel irrationally upbeat and… happy. 

And he had once convinced himself that that was far behind him.

But clearly it was still very persistent inside of him.

Dipper found himself completely mesmerized. Not only by the show, but by the main man. In fact, he was mostly fixated on him. Bill just looked so graceful up there. So completely confident and powerful, not one hint of softness in him, but he still managed to look as delicate as a flower when he wanted to. Although that was  _ far _ from the truth. Bill was an absolute madman, it was only that he was extremely talented with acting, he always was, so he could make anyone believe anything he wanted. That’s part of why he’s such a great conman. Dipper knew though. He had learned to tell what was an act and what was real.

And he knew for a fact that Bill had really changed for the better.

Recently, The Pines boy just hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the tall blond. Their time spent together was recently always crossing his mind, leaving him smiling and distracted. Mabel had begun to snap him out of it when she noticed he was unintentionally daydreaming. It was weird. But he just couldn’t shake the feeling. 

Sure, he had missed Bill for a really long time, and yeah, it took him months to get over him, but he was sure that he just wanted to be friends now, and nothing more. 

He...  _ was _ .

Now, though, his mind wasn’t completely made up.   
  


About an hour and a half later, the show came to an end. Bill bowed to the audience once, twice. There were items thrown onto the stage at his feet, mostly flowers, applause, cheers, and whistles. He was very unsubtly savouring all of it. Bill looked up, meeting Dipper’s eyes, all the way in the crowd. It wasn’t hard for Bill to spot him. To him, he stood out from the rest like a light bulb. Dipper had a smirk on his face, he was nodding to him as if he was pleased, clapping like the rest of the people in the room. Bill had to keep himself from exploding out of joy. It wasn’t easy to impress Dipper in any magic show, he’s a smartass by nature and he has a tendency to analyse every little thing until he figures out everything that would happen next until he got bored. So, being able to have him entertained meant two things; Dipper had no idea how he’d done it, something he could hold over his head forever, and he had been able to pull off such a good show that Dipper didn’t care about not finding the logic in it. This had to go down as one of Bill’s greatest accomplishments.

He stood up straight, levitating off the stage again. He put on a maniacal expression, his hair started to rise off of his face. Bill seemed to forget that his hair blowing out of the way would reveal his right eye

Dipper wasn’t far from the stage at all. He could see Bill’s face clearly. And he was left stunned. Was that why he covered his eye? He was dumbfounded at the sight. There was an eyepatch covering his eye, it was an upside down triangle, but that didn’t cover the skin around it. The skin was scarred, badly scarred. It looked like it was made of sandstone, that if you touched it too roughly it would crumble. There were black lines marking it, making a brick pattern around his eye. 

Dipper needed to know what happened. And he needed to know if anyone hurt Bill on purpose.

But another day.

The triangle from the beginning of the show reappeared, five feet off the ground once again. Bill was slowly pulled towards it, and as he was, he hastily yelled “And remember, reality’s an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold,  _ bye _ !” Before crawling back into the hole. It turned into the blinding white light and exploded after a few seconds.

The audience stood up, they clapped and cheered, whistled and screamed. Dipper looked over at his sister, they shared the same bewildered but wondrous expression. She smiled brightly at him.

“So, did you like the show?” Dipper asked her, a hint of mocking in his tone.

Mabel chuckled as she elbowed him in the side. He doubled over. Mabel had always been so strong. “Yeah… it was kind of amazing.” She shyly admitted.

Dipper teasingly smirked at her, “I told you so.”

Mabel stuck her tongue out at him in response.   
  


As the two Pines walked out of the building, they noticed crowd outside. Of course Bill was surrounded by tons of people with cameras who wanted to interview him, again, why wouldn’t he be? Dipper guessed he was going to miss another chat with him. It didn’t matter, right? He could always call later, anyway. But it’s not the same. It shouldn’t be a big deal for him, it was really getting on his nerves how disappointed he was feeling right now. A sinking pit in his stomach. God, he hated caring so much. 

Although he had to admit there were times where it wasn’t  _ so _ bad.

Mabel snapped her fingers in front of her face. “Hey! Earth to Dip-Dop!” She called.

Dipper was startled and a little confused, “What?” He asked, not paying his full attention just yet. He didn’t even notice the big dumb smile on his face.

“You were daydreaming again.” Mabel explained, exasperated.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry.” 

His sister rolled her eyes at him. “Come on, Bro-bro. Let’s go home already.” She smiled fondly.

Dipper bit his bottom lip, in thought, and looked from Mabel over to the tallest head in the crowd. Bill’s eye snapped to him immediately, making eye contact. He raised a finger at Dipper, asking for a moment. The brunet nodded.

Without looking away, Dipper answered Mabel. “Why don’t you go ahead to the car without me? I’ll be right there in a moment.”

Mabel sighed, “Okay.” She said. Then she giggled, “But no screwing around, don’t take too long or you’re grounded, young man.” Her tone was strict, but clearly playfull. 

Dipper chuckled, giving her a nod as she began to walk off. 

The Pines leaned on one of the trees outside the entrance, shuffling around in his pocket. He took out a quarter and began to mindlessly play with it.

Bill managed to cut the interviews short. And with a new record, at that. He looked around, spotting Dipper leaning on a tree and throwing a coin around, his free hand in his pocket and his sleeves rolled up. Bill walked over to him. He didn’t bother to try to fight the grin on his face.

Bill came up from behind him, his head hovering behind the other’s shoulder. “Pinetree!”

Dipper turned around in surprise. If he hadn’t caught himself, he would have punched Bill in the face. He smacked the other on the back of the head, “Christ, don’t do that, you ass!”

Bill was about to choke from laughter. “Oh man, it worked! I never scare you anymore!”

“Oh, shut up, will you?” Dipper laughed.

“Admit it, you adore me!” Bill chirped innocently.

“Oh!” Dipper scoffed, “Pshh, I loathe you!”  

Then, Bill scoffed too, feigning offence. He wiped at fake tears, “How could you say that, Pinetree?”

They both broke into laughter. A short moment of comfortable silence came between them, a moment where they just took the time to take each other in. They stared at the other’s face, eyes, nose, lips.

Dipper felt his face begin to grow hot. He cleared his throat and rubbed at the back of his neck as he looked away for a moment. “Your show was  _ really  _ amazing, Bill. I can see why it’s so popular.” 

“I know.” Bill stated bluntly.

Dipper rolled his eyes as he lightly smacked the other again, “Take the goddamn compliment, you big man-baby.”

Bill laughed, “Alright, alright.” He said, “Thanks, Pinetree, it really means a lot coming from you.” His tone grew more sincere, and Dipper could have sworn that there was a pink tint on his face. But it  _ was _ starting to get chilly.

Dipper, himself, felt the blood rush to his face. He smiled, “Well, I mean it. I can seriously tell you that you impressed me. And I never thought I’d say that to anyone. You’re really talented.” 

The blond averted his gaze, he smiled fondly, “Thank you. I mean it.”

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m still pissed that I can’t figure out how you did most of that stuff.”

Bill laughed, giving the other a that stupid shit-eating grin he knew he hated. “The answer is actually a lot more obvious than you think. I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out.

Something flared in the Pines’ eyes, “Bill Cipher, Is that a challenge?”

Bill shrugged casually, “Only if you want it to be.”

Dipper gave him a wide smile. He turned to leave, but before he started walking he turned back to Bill. He suddenly felt a little nervous “Before I go, actually, uh.” He took a moment to think of his words, “I’m going out into the woods tomorrow morning for research. I need an extra hand since Mabel’s busy running the gift shop. And I think that you’ll be able to help me with my findings quite a bit.” He explained. Dipper looked Bill in the eye, “What do you say?”

Bill completely perked up. He was already cheery, but now he was sixty times more ecstatic. He had been wanting to go into that forest again and have an adventure with the twins for years now. He missed it so much. “Of course! I’d love to!” He chirped, “The same as before?” He then asked.

Dipper nodded, “Yup, meet at the spot outside the woods near the shack at eight.” He said. Then he paused, “Just like old times.”

Bill’s expression softened. “Just like old times.”


	4. Chapter 4

Dipper looked down at his watch. He was twelve minutes early for their little meetup. He would be lying if he said he was completely confident, but he wasn’t about to let the other find out about that. So he had to calm his nerves before Bill showed. Dipper took a deep breath, rubbing at his tired eyes. Oh, how he regretted pulling an all-nighter last night. 

Dipper slumped down next to a tree and used his backpack as a pillow for his back. He sighed, resting his head on the rough bark and looking up at the blue sky. The clouds were beautiful. Giant fluffy white cotton balls in the bright blue sky. Dipper chuckled at the thought. After all those years, Mabel was getting to him. He simply listened to the wind blowing and the leaves moving around him. The birds chirped in the early morning sun. Times like these, Dipper wished he could live in the moment forever. The tranquility, warmth, and safe feeling immersed him, it was wonderful.

A thought loomed in the back of his mind. He wanted to remember the old times. Wanted to remember his younger self sleeping by a tree, Bill right by his side. He wanted to remember the tranquility, warmth, and safety of falling asleep in Bill’s lap with their hands intertwined. He wanted to remember the smell of pine, the sound of water, the beauty of stars in the night sky in their special spot. Dipper reached into the collar of his shirt and held the pendants of his necklace in his hand. He wanted to remember the feeling of Bill’s love, of their skin touching, of their lips touching.   
  


Bill took his time walking. He took the time to admire the quiet of the streets in the morning. It was hard not to just full out run over to the shack since he was so excited for this. But he wasn’t a child anymore, he could handle not running through the streets like a madman. He was calm, cool, and collected. And he was going to walk to the shack and meet Dipper for their adventure without being a jittery mess. 

Maybe he should think about something else in order to calm down. Something peaceful. Water coming from a stream, warm wind combing through his hair, leaves gently falling to the plush, green grass below, being surrounded by wildlife.

Bill realized he wasn’t making up a safe-haven. He was recalling one of his fondest memories. It was one he had buried deep within him. 

It couldn’t hurt to walk just a little faster.

Dipper was snapped out of his trance as he heard footsteps approach him. He quickly tucked the chain back into his shirt and looked down at his watch again. Holy shit, had ten minutes really gone by already? The Pines bolted up into a standing position and faced none other than Bill, who was startled by the sudden reaction.

Bill raised his hands to his chest and took one step closer, there was something playful in his eye, “Woah, cool it, Pinetree. You know I don’t bite.” He laughed.

Dipper looked away, “Are you physically incapable of shutting your mouth siren off?” He asked mockingly.

Bill was about to make a witty remark, until he leaned in closer and got a good look at the other’s face. He smirked, “Wait, why are you so blushy?” 

Dipper took in a sharp breath, “It’s hot out here…” He tried, not very convincingly at that.

Bill decided to let it slide this time. “Mm-hmm,” He started. Bill put an arm around the other’s shoulders in a friendly manner. 

And this time, they both felt their hearts tighten. 

“Shall we get going?” 

Dipper grinned up at him, “Let’s.”  
  


And so, they spent the entire day in the woods. Of course, Dipper had brought them both things to eat so they did indeed just hours there. Dipper had made so many epiphanies and had found out so many things. The bump he had hit was absolutely gone now, he had made so much progress on his Gravity Falls investigation that he probably wouldn’t have to do research for two weeks. Dipper kept on talking Bill’s ear off and answering his own questions, while Bill managed to answer some of those little things the other couldn’t. Turns out, those little things made him unravel some really, really big things. He was on the brink of finding out about where all the magic in the town came from.

When they weren’t ranting about the paranormal, though, they just chatted. About anything that crossed their minds. They even ended up climbing trees and chasing each other around. It was like they were children again. They would always do this. It was almost as if nothing bad had ever happened between the two.

Bill indulged in admiring Dipper that day. His persistence and passion were… adorable, to say the least. Bill adored watching Dipper figure things out, and he loved to help him. Dipper was an annoying little brat sometimes, but some things don’t change. There was still something though, that made Bill feel so, so… well, it made his chest feel open and tingly. He knew what it was. 

He just didn’t want to believe it out of fear of losing the other again.

Dipper was kind, and compassionate, and smart, and the most amazing person he had ever met. It was amazing to have gained his trust again, and he just couldn’t lose it.

But he didn’t know if he could handle only being friends. The thought made something inside of him ache and yearn for more. 

Bill was never the shy one, though.

Dipper stopped in his tracks, and looked around. “We should eat again, and then we should go back.” 

Bill nodded in response. He looked at the tree in front of them. It looked… familiar. “Do you recognize this place?” He asked him.

Dipper looked at the tree, too. “Wait a minute… is this?” 

They looked at each other in a moment of mutual recognition. They gasped at the same time. 

“ _ No way _ !” Dipper exclaimed.

“I didn’t think I would ever find this place again, Pinetree!” Bill almost jumped on the spot. 

Back when they were dating, they would go out into the forest every morning in the summer. During one of their walks they had found an opening near an old oak tree. Behind it there was a beautiful clearing with a stream and almost overgrown shrubbery, nice soft grass to sleep on, and a beautiful view of the stars at night. It was cozy, and private, and it became their perfect little spot. This was where they would go after most dates.

But after all the problems happened, they didn’t ever want to go there again. So they forgot about it instead. Bill had even avoided the forest itself for a while.

The two crawled through the entrance. It was exactly how they remembered it, except that everything was a lot more overgrown than before. The stream was still there, so was the tree in which they carved their initials, because they were  _ that _ couple, and they would still be able to see the stars at night.

Dipper marveled at the scene before him, a million memories flooded his mind at once. Bill wore the same expression. 

Bill chuckled. This was too good to be true. There, next to the steam, was where he had promised to marry Dipper one day, Dipper was left stunned for eleven whole minutes. And there, next to their initials, was where they had said ‘I love you’ for the first time, the other was actually the first to say it. And there, under another tree, with Dipper asleep on his lap, he had promised to protect the other at all costs. And there, in the middle of the clearing with the sun setting, Bill had promised himself he would never hurt the love of his life. And so on, and so on. 

Bill had broken every one of those promises. He wasn’t worthy of the other’s trust. Not one bit. They both knew it.

But when Dipper flashed him a lop-sided smile, and laughed like this was the best thing to happen to him. Neither could care less.

They ended up eating there, for old time’s sake. It was almost too much at once. It almost felt like they were on a date again. But they ended up not caring one bit. It was too enjoyable to dwell on it, they fixated on eating and talking and each other. 

So now they lay on the soft grass, admiring the sun as it began to set. Their shoulders were touching and their hands were close, but neither could reach over and hold the other’s hand. Not now, at least. 

Dipper spoke up, “I have one more question for you today…” He stated, turning his head to the right in order to face the other.

Bill kept on looking up, “Shoot.”

The Pines looked back to the sky, “How do you know so much about the paranormal?” he asked casually.

Bill quickly turned his head, causing the other to do the same. “That’s the same answer as I gave you last night.” 

Dipper scoffed, “Come  _ on _ ,” he nagged, “don’t you think I deserve a straightforward answer after all the work I’ve done today?”

“Honestly?” Bill shrugged, “No.”

Dipper lightly hit the other, who laughed quietly. 

There was a moment of comfortable silence between them. That was when Bill realized just how close they actually were. The other’s face was so close that he could feel his breath. He scanned over his pretty face as a result, those sparkly mocha brown eyes, rosy cheeks, and little freckles on his face. Although, Bill knew for a fact that most of the freckles were on his back and shoulders. He wondered if his lips were as soft as he remembered them to be. He felt the ghost of Dipper’s hand next to his. If he were to move his hand the slightest bit, he would be holding the other’s.

Bill sat up, “I think the only way to explain that is to show you, Pinetree.” His tone had gotten serious. 

Dipper sat up too, supporting his weight with his arms. “What do you mean?”

Bill held up a hand in front of Dipper, his palm facing the sky. Suddenly, blue fire engulfed his hand, making Dipper flich back.

Dipper let out a nervous chuckle, “Bill, if this is some sort of prank--”

“No,” Bill interrupted him, “No, I can actually use magic.”

Dipper’s eyes widened as he looked at Bill’s hand in front of him. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Of course, it wasn’t the weirdest sight in the town, but he never expected someone he knew so well to be able to…

“Since when?!” He loudly asked, Bill could see the excitement in his eyes, “Oh my God, this is amazing, this is  _ so _ amazing!” 

Bill let out a fond laugh, “About two years or so ago…”

“Wait, isn’t that kind of cheating? You can’t just use real magic in a show, now can you?” He joked.

“There is no rule book! And the people are getting what they paid for! I’m not the bad guy here.” Bill retaliated.

“Bill! You  _ have  _ to tell me  _ everything _ ! Like how--”

He was interrupted again, “Another day, Pinetree. Another day, okay?” His tone was fond, soft eyes looking at Dipper.

The brunet smiled, “I’ll hold you to that.” he promised. He took a deep breath, “Is, Is that why your eye is…?” He gently began. It may have not been the best time to ask, but hey, what the hell did Dipper know about timing? He was just too curious.

Bill looked down, “Yeah… an eye for an eye taken seriously.”

“I’m sorry...”

The blond chuckled, bringing an arm around the other again, “Why are you apologizing? It’s not your fault. You didn’t claw my eye out.”

Dipper let himself smile, giving a breathy laugh. He brought a hand up to Bill’s face so he could gently brush the hair away. He saw a pink tint crawl onto the other’s face. “I miss your eye, it was beautiful.” He admitted, “But, you still look great without it.

Bill felt his face grow hot. Since when was Dipper a flirt?  _ He _ was supposed to be the flirt! He wasn’t prepared for that. Dipper left him stuttering until the aforementioned laughed again and laid back down. 

Bill did the same, rolling his eyes. He looked up at the sky. The stars were beginning to appear now. It was marvellous. Since they lived in a small town, the stars were much more visible than that of a city’s. That was one of the many reasons Dipper loved it in Gravity Falls. The stars shone bright in the dark navy sky, painting it in stardust. Bill looked over at Dipper again, the sight reflected off of his eyes. He doubted he would ever, in a million years, find a star that could shine as bright as Dipper.

Dipper felt Bill’s eyes on him, so he turned. He felt the blood rush to his face when he saw the expression that the other wore. His eyes were tender, there was a deep passion in them, and he had a fond smile. 

The Pines fought back a smile of his own. “What?” He asked. He could feel butterflies in his stomach.

Bill then reached into his pocket and dug out his phone. “Oh, nothing.”

“Well, that’s not very convincing.” Dipper chuckled. 

The blond took the other’s hand in his as he stood up, leading Dipper to stand, too. As he looked through his playlist, he didn’t let go. The Pines wasn’t able to look away from their hands. Bill’s hand was as soft and warm as he remembered it to be. He was dumbfounded. What was he supposed to do? Pull away? Hold his back? Say something? The obvious option was to pull away. So, he should pull away. He was going to pull away.

He couldn’t do it. 

In fact, he just froze. He knew that his face was red. But he just couldn’t take his hand back. He was tempted to hold his, back. But that would be weird. So he just stood there, frozen and red-faced. Dipper looked away so Bill wouldn’t see his face.

Bill smiled wider when he found the song he was looking for. He hit play and turned the volume up for both of them to hear. The soft music filled their ears, the pleasant melody surrounding them in an aura of calm and charm. 

Bill let go of his hand, only to bow to Dipper and hold his hand out, “May I have this dance?”

The brunet couldn’t manage to muster any words, so he just nodded and gently placed his hand on top of the other’s. Bill took it once again and placed his other hand on Dipper’s waist. Dipper refused to look Bill in the face as he awkwardly placed his hand on his shoulder. He looked down and his hat covered his face.

Bill led them. They slowly swayed to the song, the wind and trees dancing with them. Bill twirled Dipper a couple of times until he managed to look back up. They stopped paying attention to anything else around them, the two were the only ones that mattered at the moment. They stared into each other’s eyes, faces red and smiles wide. It felt so…

So right.

It felt like right there, dancing under the stars, holding each other, with the music lulling them into peace, was the only place they were meant to be. Bill snaked his arm around the other’s waist to pull him closer, just like Dipper hoped he would. Dipper then pulled his hat off and put it on the blond’s head so it wouldn’t be in the way.

Bill’s eyes landed on Dipper’s pink lips. Those lips he had kissed a thousand times before. He had to say that he missed it . He missed kissing Dipper. And now that their faces were so close, it was hard to resist the urge to lean in and try it again. 

Neither had really noticed that they had stopped in their tracks. They were too preoccupied by something else. Bill slowly inched his face closer to Dipper’s. He wasn’t sudden or fast, just so the other could pull away if he wanted to. But the brunet had absolutely no intention in getting farther. Quite the opposite, really. Once he noticed Bill getting closer, he did the same. Dipper’s eyes fluttered shut, his lips parting the slightest bit as he tilted his head to the side. 

Their lips met in a soft kiss, and it felt just as amazing as they remembered. It was like sparks went off as soon as they touched. In that moment, everything that had happened between them was erased. All that they knew was the other’s lips moving against their’s. Bill’s chest felt open, like flowers were blooming there. He let go of Dipper’s hand and moved his own to tangle his fingers through Dipper’s hair and pull him even closer. Dipper wrapped his arms around Bill’s neck in return. It was warm, and soft, and so amazingly  _ right _ . The Pines let out a happy hum. It felt like finding something you hadn’t even realized you lost after years. Neither wanted the moment to ever end. They wanted to keep holding each other, taste the other’s lips, make up for all the lost time. But it eventually had to end.

Dipper was the one to pull away, breathless, although Bill did try to follow him in a desperate attempt to elongate the kiss. They stayed like that for a few long seconds, just taking each other in once again. Bill thought Dipper looked adorable, the moonlight shining down on him, his face red, breathlessly staring back at him. And Dipper felt his legs turn to jelly. Bill staring down at him with that wide shit-eating grin he hated, his eye glowing under the stars, and his face still so close.

“So… we just did that…” Dipper said, still processing all of it.

“Really? I wasn’t paying attention, we better do it again.” Bill suggested, mostly serious. 

Dipper chuckled and rested his head on Bill’s shoulder as they started to sway back and forth again. Bill placed a kiss on the top of his head and then let his chin repose it. They were closer than before, sharing warmth and being able to hear their heartbeats. 

Bill breathed out, content, “I promise I’ll never hurt you again, Sapling.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for reading, I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Comments and kudos are very appreciated <3


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